Believe (Cher album)

Believe
Studio album by Cher
Released	October 22, 1998
Recorded	June–August 1998
Studio	Dreamhouse Studios, London Soundworks Studios, New York
Length	43:59
Label	Wea Warner Bros.
Producer	Mark Taylor Brian Rawling Junior Vasquez Todd Terry Rob Dickins (executive producer)
Cher chronology
It's a Man's World (1995) Believe (1998) If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits (1999)
Singles from Believe
"Believe" Released: October 19, 1998 "Strong Enough" Released: February 19, 1999 "All or Nothing" Released: June 7, 1999 "Dov'è l'amore" Released: October 25, 1999

Believe is the twenty-second studio album by American singer-actress Cher, first released on October 22, 1998 by WEA and distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Records. Following the failure of her previous studio album It's a Man's World, her record company encouraged her to return to the studio to pursue a new musical direction. Recording took place over the summer at the Dreamhouse Studios in London and the Soundworks Studios in New York under the guidance of English producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling. The album was dedicated to her ex-husband Sonny Bono, who died earlier that year.

Believe represents a complete musical departure from her previous works, consisting of dance-pop and Eurodance oriented styles, yet it includes a broader range of various musical genres such as techno, house, disco and Latin while its lyrical topics include freedom, individualism and relationships. The album features some of the new technology of the time, like the usage of Auto-tune, which would eventually become known as the "Cher effect".^[1] Upon release, the album received mixed reviews from music critics, who commended Cher's vocal performance, while others criticized the high amount of vocoder and its overall production. It won one Grammy for "Best Dance Recording" from a total of three nominations.

Commercially, Believe proved to be extremely successful, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies across the United States. The record reached the peak position in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand and Portugal, and charted within' the top ten in France, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and several other international territories.

Four singles were released from the album. The first single, "Believe", became one of the biggest-selling singles ever by topping the charts in a total of 23 countries and has sold more than 10 million copies.^[2] "Strong Enough" was released as the second single from the album, being less successful than Believe, especially in the US and UK, peaking at numbers 57 and 5, respectively. "All or Nothing" and "Dov'è l'amore" were released as the third and fourth singles respectively, both becoming moderately successful. In order to support Believe, Cher embarked on her sixth concert tour entitled the Do You Believe? Tour which became one of the highest grossing tour ever for a female artist at that time.

Background and history

After the poorly received previous record It's a Man's World (1995), head of label Warner Music UK, Rob Dickins, suggested that Cher recorded a dance album.^[3] Cher began working on Believe in the summer of 1998 in London, meeting with producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, who had previously worked with Rob Dickins; additional producers included Todd Terry ("Taxi Taxi") and Junior Vasquez (who had originally worked on "Dov'è L'Amore", but when he sent back his version from New York, it was rejected by Dickens, who decided instead to give the production of the track to Taylor and Rawling as well^[4]). Cher worked also with long-time collaborator Diane Warren (who wrote "Takin' Back My Heart") and covered two songs: "The Power" (Amy Grant) and "Love Is the Groove". Furthermore, she decided to introduce a remix form of her 1988 single "We All Sleep Alone" from her 1987 Cher album.

The "Believe" single was originally written only by Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Stuart McLennen and Tim Powell, and circulated at Warner Bros. as an unwanted demo for months. Mark Taylor said, "Everyone loved the chorus but not the rest of the song; As we were already writing other songs for Cher, Rob asked us if we could sort it out. Two of our writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, got involved and eventually came up with a complete song that Rob and Cher were happy with."^[4]

During early sessions Cher recorded a cover version of "Love Is in the Air" that she previously performed a cappella on the talk show The Magic Hour in 1997. The song was mixed and produced by Junior Vasquez, but it did not appear on the final cut of the album. Now it is only available on file sharing networks.

The album featured a new musical direction for Cher, with use of Auto-Tune, most notably in the title track. The album was influenced by Sonny Bono's death in a skiing accident earlier that year. Believe is dedicated to him.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B− [6]
Robert Christgau	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]

Upon release, the album received mixed responses from international music critics. Allmusic's Michael Gallucci called Believe Cher's "latest playground move" and described Cher "merely moves through the beat factory with one drab vocal range into one endless, and personality-free, thump session" and "determinedly, if not wholeheartedly, clinging to the tail end of it". In his review he gave the album two and a half out of five stars.^[5] The major criticism was the strong use of Auto-Tune which changed Cher's voice. Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B- rating, comparing it to Madonna's Ray of Light (1998). She said "One minute, this dance grab bag is mimicking Ray of Light; the next, paying homage to Donna Summer's disco days — then both at once!" But did say "Believe is erratic (and sometimes cheesy) as hell, but you gotta love how her Cher-ness shines."^[6]

Commercial performance

The album had debuted at number thirty-nine on the Australian Albums Chart, and eventually peaked at number thirteen there, and was certificated 2x Platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The album also peaked at number forty-one, and peaked at number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart and was certificated 2x Platinum by Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). It had peaked at number two on the Swedish Albums Chart, and was certificated 3x Platinum there. It is also the 73rd Best Selling of All Time in Sweden.^[9] It had peaked at number five on the French Albums Chart, and stayed in the charts for forty-seven weeks. The album was certificated Platinum in that country. It peaked at number one in Austria, and stayed in there for thirty-seven weeks. It was certificated 2x Platinum in that country. In the United States, after the release date, the album debuted at #139 on the issue of November 28, 1998 and then reached at number four on May 8, 1999.^[10][11]

Accolades

In 1999, the album received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Pop Album" and the title track was nominated for "Record of the Year", as well as winning the Grammy Award for "Best Dance Recording". Throughout 1999 and 2000 Cher was nominated for, and won, many other awards for the album, including a Billboard Music Award for "Female Vocalist of the Year".

Track listing

Believe – Standard edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Believe"	Brian Higgins Stuart McLennen Paul Barry Steven Torch Matthew Gray Timothy Powell	Mark Taylor Brian Rawling	3:59
2.	"The Power"	Tommy Simms Judson Spence	Junior Vasquez	3:56
3.	"Runaway"	Taylor Barry	Taylor Rawling	4:46
4.	"All or Nothing"	Taylor Barry	Taylor Rawling	3:57
5.	"Strong Enough"	Taylor Barry	Taylor Rawling	3:44
6.	"Dov'è l'amore"	Taylor Barry	Taylor Rawling	4:18
7.	"Takin' Back My Heart"	Diane Warren	Taylor Rawling	4:32
8.	"Taxi Taxi"	Todd Terry Mark Jordan	Terry	5:04
9.	"Love Is the Groove"	Betsy Cook Bruce Woolley	Terry	4:31
10.	"We All Sleep Alone" (Todd Terry remix)	Desmond Child Jon Bon Jovi Richie Sambora	Terry	5:10
Total length:				43:59

Believe – Japanese/Australian limited edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
11.	"Believe" (Club 69 Future Full Mix)	Higgins McLennen Barry Torch Gray Powell		9:20
12.	"Believe" (Xenomania Mix)	Higgins McLennen Barry Torch Gray Powell		4:20
Total length:				57:39

Notes

• "Believe" contains samples from the compositions "Prologue" and "Epilogue" performed by Electric Light Orchestra from their studio album Time.

Personnel

Adapted from Allmusic.^[12]

• Tracy Ackerman - background vocals
• Chris Anderson - piano
• Ryan Art - design
• Kevyn Aucoin - make-up
• Paul Barry - composer, background vocals
• Jeffrey Bernstein - programming
• Winston Blissett - bass
• Jon Bon Jovi - composer, producer
• Johan Brunkvist - keyboards
• Colleen Callaghan - hair stylist
• Cher - primary artist
• Desmond Child - composer, producer
• Betsy Cook - composer
• Rob Dickins - executive producer
• Ada Dyer - background vocals
• Humberto Gatica - mixing
• Marc Goodman - engineer
• Marlon Graves - guitar
• Matthias Heilbronn - editing, programming
• Brian Higgins - composer
• Sylvia Mason-James - background vocals
• Mark Jordan - composer
• Bill Klatt - engineer
• Michael Lavine - photography
• Eddie Martinez - guitar
• P. Dennis Mitchell - mixing
• Adam Phillips - guitar
• Timothy Powell - composer
• Brian Rawling - producer
• Antoinette Roberson - background vocals
• Tom Salta - keyboards, programming
• Richie Sambora - composer, producer
• Tommy Sims - composer
• Robin Smith - string arrangements
• Judson Spence - composer
• Hamish Stewart - background vocals
• Jeff Taylor - additional production, laughs, production engineer, remixing
• Mark Taylor - composer, guitar, keyboards, mixing, producer, programming, string arrangements
• Todd Terry - composer, producer
• Junior Vasquez - producer
• Diane Warren - composer
• Audrey Wheeler - background vocals
• James Williams - background vocals
• Bruce Woolley - composer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1998–99) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 13 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 3 Belgium Albums (Promuvi)[17] 2 Canadian Albums (RPM)[18] 1 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[19] 2 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[20] 1 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[21] 7 European Albums (Top 100)[22] 1 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 4 French Albums (SNEP)[24] 5 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[26] 3 Italian Albums (Hit Parade Italia)[27] 6 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[28] 47 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30] 4 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[31] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] 6 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[33] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[36] 7 US Billboard 200[37] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[38] 32 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39] 79 Norwegian Christmas Period Albums (VG-lista)[40] 18 UK Albums (OCC)[41] 32 Chart (1999) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[42] 23 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[43] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[44] 10 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[45] 11 Canadian Albums (RPM)[46] 6 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[47] 2 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[48] 20 European Albums (Top 100)[49] 1 French Albums (SNEP)[50] 17 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[51] 1 Italian Albums (Hit Parade)[27] 20 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[52] 11 Norwegian Winter Period Albums (VG-lista)[53] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 9 UK Albums (OCC)[55] 48 US Billboard 200[49] 17 Chart (2000) Peak position Finnish Foreign Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[56] 86 Decade-end charts Chart (1990–99) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[57] 43

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[58]	Platinum	60,000^*
Australia (ARIA)[59]	2× Platinum	140,000^^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[60]	Platinum	50,000^*
Belgium (BEA)[61]	Platinum	50,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[62]	6× Platinum	600,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[63]	Gold	32,682[63]
France (SNEP)[64]	Platinum	555,300[65]
Germany (BVMI)[66]	2× Platinum	1,000,000^^
Japan (RIAJ)[67]	Gold	100,000^^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[68]	2× Gold	200,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[69]	Platinum	100,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[70]	2× Platinum	30,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[71]	Platinum	50,000^*
Poland (ZPAV)[72]	Platinum	100,000^*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[73]	4× Platinum	400,000^^
Sweden (GLF)[74]	3× Platinum	240,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[75]	2× Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[76]	2× Platinum	700,000[77]
United States (RIAA)[78]	4× Platinum	3,600,000[79]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[80]	4× Platinum	4,000,000^*
Worldwide		10,000,000[81]
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Edition	Label
France[82]	October 22, 1998	CD cassette LP digital download	Standard	WEA
United Kingdom[83]	October 26, 1998
Germany[84]	November 2, 1998
Canada[85]	November 4, 1998
United States[86]	November 10, 1998	CD cassette LP mini-album digital download		Warner Bros.
Japan[87]	December 23, 1998	CD cassette	Standard limited edition	WEA

See also

• List of best-selling albums
• List of European number-one hits of 1999
• List of number-one albums from the 1990s (New Zealand)

Notes

1. Frere-Jones, Sasha (June 9, 2008). "The Gerbil's Revenge". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved May 30, 2012. In the manual accompanying Auto-Tune’s fifth-release version, the zero speed setting is described as 'the Cher Effect.'
2. Alicia Diaz Dennis (11 December 2008). "Fashion Influential #63: Cher". Zimbio. Livingly Media. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
3. Mendes, Mario (April 10, 2015). ""Nunca imaginei que tivesse fãs no Brasil", diz Cher" [“I never imagined I had fans in Brazil”, says Cher]. Veja (in Portuguese). Retrieved September 12, 2016.
4. "Recording Cher's 'Believe'". Sound on Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
5. Gallucci, Michael. Believe - Cher at AllMusic
6. Beth Johnson (13 November 1998). "Believe Review". Entertainment Weekly.
7. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Cher". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
8. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 159. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
9. Hung, Steffen. "swedishcharts.com - Swedish Charts Portal".
10. "Top 200 Albums - Billboard".
11. "Top 200 Albums - Billboard".
12. "Believe - Cher; Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
13. "Australiancharts.com – Cher – Believe". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Cher – Believe" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
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17. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
18. "RPM Top 100 CDs". RPM. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
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20. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
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22. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
23. "Cher: Believe" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
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31. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
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38. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1998" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
39. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
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61. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 1999". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
62. "Canadian album certifications – Cher – Believe". Music Canada.
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65. "Les Albums Platine :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
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68. "Certificaciones – Cher" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas.
69. "Dutch album certifications – Cher – Believe" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
70. "NZ_chart book_Cher.pdf" (PDF).
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72. "Polish album certifications – Cher – Believe" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
73. Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
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76. "British album certifications – Cher – Believe". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Believe in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
77. "Cher Releases First New Album In 12 Years 'Closer To The Truth' Out On October 14th 2013". 23 August 2013.
78. "American album certifications – Cher – Believe". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
79. Caulfield, Keith (August 7, 2015). "Cher Reflects on 50 Years on the Billboard Charts: 'I Got You Babe,' 'Believe' & Beyond". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
80. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1999". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
81. "Cher Says 'Farewell' With 50-City Tour". Billboard. May 1, 2002. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
82. "Believe: Cher: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
83. "Believe: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
84. "Believe: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
85. "Believe: Cher: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
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87. "Amazon.co.jp: Believe: Music". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-01-05.

External links

• Cher.com > Music > Believe
• Cher at the Internet Movie Database